Civic to re-open and Rotherham Show set to go-ahead

THE shows must go on — Rotherham Civic Theatre is set for a September reopening as restrictions ease and improvement works are completed.
 

THE shows must go on — Rotherham Civic Theatre is set for a September reopening as restrictions ease and improvement works are completed.

Renovation is taking place in the front-of-house areas, including the entrance room and the bar.

Papers going before RMBC cabinet members on June 21 reveal September as the target opening date.

The changes taking place are aimed at smartening up the public areas and making better use of space in the bar.

Council leader Cllr Chris Read said: “We went to have a look a couple of months ago. I think they will be changes that regular theatregoers will see immediately benefits from.

“We had a lot of feedback when we had to close initially, and then again when we had to extend the closure. We know that many people have an attachment to the place.”

Looking to the long-term, delivering a new theatre for Rotherham remains on the council’s “to-do” list.

At one stage, an option to have a combined cinema/theatre building was explored before the Arc cinema project at Forge Island was progressed.

It means another site, with a bigger footprint than the Civic, would be sought.

Cllr Read said: “The conversation about a new theatre does roll around, and we do still have that long-term aspiration.”

THE show must go on — RMBC has confirmed that this year’s Rotherham Show WILL go ahead.

The council is planning for the big September event, which was cancelled in 2020.

“Our intention is for it to go ahead,” said leader Cllr Chris Read. “We have a bid for external funding to support the show.

“If that comes through, we might run the show over three days to allow us more capacity for social distancing.

“If it doesn’t come through, we might have scale back on would normally happen.

“Rotherham Show changes every time, but it will be what people recognise as the Rotherham Show.

“We are all hoping that by September Covid will be a fading memory, but if we are still under some restrictions, we might be scaled back but more spread out across the park.”

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